New York City teacher removed for leading children in prayer wins grievance

Mildred Rosario, a former New York school teacher, is consoled and interviewed as she leaves a news conference

The New York City school board has agreed that it improperly dismissed an untenured, substitute teacher for asking her children to accept Jesus Christ.

However, Mildred Rosario will not be asked back to teach at the Bronx middle school she was fired from late last month. Rosario, member of a Pentecostal church in East Harlem, lost her job after the principal and the district's school board ruled that Rosario violated the separation of church and state by leading her sixth-graders in prayer. Rosario was fired two weeks before her contract with the district expired.

Represented by her union, the United Federation of Teachers, Rosario filed a grievance with the school board claiming her dismissal was improper and that she should receive compensation for the final two weeks of her contract. The district issued a grievance decision yesterday agreeing with the union and granting her two weeks' pay.

“Our grievance was sustained by the hearing officer and Rosario will receive full compensation,” Neill Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the union, said. “Rosario, however, was only reinstated for purposes of salary. She won the grievance, but was fired.”

The union argued before the district's grievance officer that the principal and school board failed to investigate Rosario's actions properly and then fired her claiming she was an imminent threat to students, teachers and staff.

Rosenfeld added that Rosario had exhausted all possible remedies before the school board and that any further challenges would have to be heard by federal or state courts. Rosenfeld added that arguments could be made that Rosario's actions did not subvert the separation of church and state.

Conservative religious organizations such as the Christian Coalition and congressmen such as House Majority Whip Tom Delay, R-Texas, have bemoaned Rosario's dismissal as unjust and unnecessary.

DeLay, in a letter to New York Gov. George Pataki, called Rosario's firing an “injustice” and said the teacher was only trying to comfort “grieving sixth-graders.” Rosario was prompted to discuss her religious beliefs when a student asked her about the death of fifth-grader that had been announced over the school's intercom. Rosario responded that the deceased student was in heaven and then asked students if they wanted to accept Jesus as their savior.

“Since when is a prayer to offer comfort to grieving sixth-graders so dangerous that it warrants the removal of this teacher without even a warning?” Delay asked.

In an interview with The New York Times, Rosario defended her actions, saying she had no regrets “because God is going to give me the victory.” Rosario has obtained legal counsel from a Bronx attorney and the conservative Virginia-based Rutherford Institute.

Kim Hazelwood, a staff attorney with the Rutherford Institute, said that a formal lawsuit had not been filed yet. She did discuss possible claims if one is ultimately filed, though.

“Our main contention is that the school board treated her differently because of the religious aspects,” Hazelwood said. “We will look at the due-process issues and whether or not her free-speech and free-exercise of religion rights were violated.”

Hazelwood added that the group was also considering a “novel” theory that argues Rosario's students had a right to have their questions answered.

Although Hazelwood says her organization does not “want teachers teaching their own brand of religion in classrooms,” it also wants to respond to the “zealous” enforcement of the First Amendment's establishment clause by federal courts.

“We are also trying to ensure that the free-speech and free-exercise rights of teachers and students are also zealously” protected, she said.

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THE EXPERTS

The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.

Ken Paulson is president of the First Amendment Center and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He is also the former editor-in-chief of USA Today.

Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, also is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, a center of the institute. He is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.

John Seigenthaler founded the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.

About The First Amendment Center

We support the First Amendment and build understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment.

The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government.

Founded by John Seigenthaler, the First Amendment Center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The center’s website, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, is one of the most authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First Amendment issues. It features daily updates on news about First Amendment-related developments, as well as detailed reports about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary, analysis and special reports on free expression, press freedom and religious-liberty issues. Support the work of the First Amendment Center.

1 For All

1 for All is a national nonpartisan program designed to build understanding and support for First Amendment freedoms. 1 for All provides teaching materials to the nation’s schools, supports educational events on America’s campuses and reminds the public that the First Amendment serves everyone, regardless of faith, race, gender or political leanings. It is truly one amendment for all. Visit 1 for All at http://1forall.us/

Help tomorrow’s citizens find their voice: Teach the First Amendment

The most basic liberties guaranteed to Americans – embodied in the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – assure Americans a government that is responsible to its citizens and responsive to their wishes.

These 45 words are as alive and important today as they were more than 200 years ago. These liberties are neither liberal nor conservative, Democratic nor Republican – they are the basis for our representative democratic form of government.

We know from studies beginning in 1997 by the nonpartisan First Amendment Center, and from studies commissioned by the Knight Foundation and others, that few adult Americans or high school students can name the individual five freedoms that make up the First Amendment.

The lesson plans – drawn from materials prepared by the Newseum and the First Amendment Center – will draw young people into an exploration of how their freedoms began and how they operate in today’s world. Students will discuss just how far individual rights extend, examining rights in the school environment and public places. The lessons may be used in history and government, civics, language arts and journalism, art and debate classes. They may be used in sections or in their entirety. Many of these lesson plans indicate an overall goal, offer suggestions on how to teach the lesson and list additional resources and enrichment activities.

First Amendment Moot Court Competition

This site no longer is being updated … And the competition itself is moving to Washington, D.C., where the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center is co-sponsoring the “Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition,” March 18-19, in partnership with the Columbus School of Law, of the Catholic University of America.

During the two-day competition in February, each team will participate in a minimum of four rounds, arguing a hypothetical based on a current First Amendment controversy before panels of accomplished jurists, legal scholars and attorneys.

FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER ARCHIVES

State of the First Amendment survey reports

The State of the First Amendment surveys, commissioned since 1997 by the First Amendment Center and Newseum, are a regular check on how Americans view their first freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

The periodic surveys examine public attitudes toward freedom of speech, press, religion and the rights of assembly and petition; and sample public opinion on contemporary issues involving those freedoms.
See the reports.